Frosted Chrysanthemums...

I got out of bed before dawn, and my first glimpse out a dusky window startled me. The world looked totally different. In an instant I recognized the reason... snow!

An inch of heavy, wet white frosted the ridge, the lawn, the meadow. Even the glowing yellow chrysanthemums wore a shawl of snow. And so it begins...

Soup weather....

Today was the kind that dawns gray and cold and wet and keeps that attitude up all day long.

So I did what I must do, and came right home and made a pot of soup. I love to make soup, because it is such a delicious way to clean out the refrigerator. This batch has beef, onions, garlic, celery, corn, peas, carrots tomatoes and orzo, all swimming around in a flavorful broth. The fridge is much tidier, just in time for grocery day. I baked some corn bread, too, and I can hardly wait for supper time. Soup is the perfect chaser to dreary days.

Lipizzaner Stallions...

I have a warm memory of going with my parents to see the Lipizzaner stallions perform when I was about 8 years old. It is one of the few outings I ever remember having with them, and I think they took me just because it would be right up my ally. The experience made my heart soar.

This week I was invited to go see the famous horses while they were here in Maine. I was gifted a ticket to a front row seat... and could see every nuance of the fabulous equines as they danced and leapt and flowed around the arena.

Two 20-something year old guys ushered a handful of adult mentally and physically handicapped men into the row of seats behind me. While it was obvious that the young guys were employed to squire their charges about, the level of sweetness and caring they exhibited made my heart soar in a way even more meaningful than watching the horses did.

There was so much beauty that night.

Welcome November...

Today I welcome November by polishing. I have polished the antique copper candlestick's that belonged to my mom, and her beautiful copper bowl. I filled the bowl with dried hydrangea blossoms from the breathtaking bush at work.

Today is sunny and clear, and the light streaming in through the windows twinkles off the mellow metal. Still left to polish are the tall brass beehive candlesticks and a squatty little lamp. All of this is early preparation for the upcoming Thanksgiving feast. As I polish the lovely things that decorated my childhood home and now decorate mine, I am helped to remember how very much I have to be thankful for.

Too much...

We didn't have many trick or treater's last night. I gave generous handfuls of candy to the few we had. As it was growing late I had begun to think that no more would come. To my delight a little boy about 8 years old came up the steps, dressed in a very nice native American costume, complete with hand made head dress and construction paper feathers. He never said a word.
I said, "I have a little problem. I have a LOT of candy left. May I give you a LOT of candy?" He just stared at me. I put a huge double handful of treats in his bag, he began to turn away. I said, "Wait, let me give you more." Dubious, he held his bag up again, and I added another double fistful, then a third. I was reaching for number four when he uttered his first words of the evening. "That. Is too MUCH."

I was amused to see that this little guy had a pretty good concept of "too much." I wish more adults had that kind of sense.

Why do people own dogs..?

I have 4 dogs. They are really a lot of trouble. Smooch, seen above, has been messing about with some all purpose flour. My dogs are prone to toilet drinking, trash dumping, counter surfing and unbridled shedding.. There is even the occasional potty-on-the-floor indiscretion. Any sane person would want to know; why do people have dogs? Because really, life would be so much simpler without them.

The reason is this: when we come home after a day at work or running errands, there is a wild, exuberant greeting at the door. No human is EVER that glad to see us. And when I am home and puttering, a dog will follow me from room to room, as if I am the reason for it all. Then, on the sofa in front of the fire, there are dogs tucked in behind my knees, and over my legs, all warm and snoring softly. And when someone comes up our driveway, there is a cacophony of sound, warning, warning us of something afoot. Then there are the special, just for pet owners, glimpses of unbridled joy that we are privy to. Every. Single. Day. Joy in the waking, the running, the eating, the loving. Pure, simple, amazing joy. The kind of joy we as humans knew once, long ago, when we were small.

Owning pets is like a memory. A reminder of simpler times, when we noticed the joy in the sunrise and the sleeping and the happiness and the greeting of those we love.

That. THAT is why I own dogs. It's the constant reminding.

The snuggles are a bonus.

To do lists...

Today dawned crisp and clear, and the morning warmed up swiftly to gift us with a slice of perfect October day. I had a cup of hot apple cider and wrote out an ambitious "to do" list. On the list were normal day-off cleaning chores, plus putting the gardens to bed for the winter, planting spring bulbs, working on refinishing the two tables I am stripping, polishing candlesticks for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, re-potting some plants and oh! so much more.

Then the phone rang:
"Hi! It's Jane. Want to go riding?"
I looked up from my tidy list, and out the window where the trees and ground alike were painted in tones of burnished copper, sun drenched. I replied:
"Oh, I really can't. What time?"

We had a wonderful ride. There is something magical about how the world looks when viewed between a horses ears.

I still manged to cross a several things off my list, and stored away a memory of a few magical hours. All told it was a day well spent.